Nostalgia
by wanderinghooves
Summary: After the Fourth Shinobi War, Naruto finds himself unprepared to adjust to Konohagakure's new elements. With Kakashi's inauguration, Sakura's promotion, and Sasuke's departure all looming, he attempts to reconcile the new future with past memories of Team 7 in one mission: the final bell test.
1. Chapter 1

It is barely two days until Kakashi's inauguration when Naruto gets the idea.

Unsurprisingly, it strikes him in the most inopportune of moments.

"Dammit!"

For the umpteenth time, the jinchūriki's irrepressible impatience has caused him to take his instant ramen too hot; in instinctive recoil, one panicked arm has struck the small picture frame resting beside his apartment window, sending it clattering to the floor.

Naruto regards it with a panicked eye, and quickly composes himself to recover the fallen item.

Dusting it off, he observes no real damage done. A new scratch adorns the already tarnished nameplate reading TEAM 7, but Naruto, satisfied with its condition, simply replaces the picture in its place beside the window without concern.

He hazards a glance at the image.

Heh. Sasuke's hair was ridiculous.

Look at Sakura, so innocent.

And there's Kakashi-sensei, remember his dumb bell test-

Wait.

Memories well in Naruto's chest like needles.

The genin bell test.

The one mission the original Team 7 had never truly completed together.

He frowns down at his steaming ramen, suddenly in thought. Now that Kakashi-sensei is going off to be Hokage, Sakura's been drafted for the hospital, and Sasuke's set to leave the village, he'll never get closure.

Unless…

Suddenly Naruto's scowl melts into a trademark mischievous smirk.

Abandoning the hazardous ramen, he snatches up his jacket and bolts for the door.


	2. Chapter 2

"Kakashi-sensei! Hey, Kakashi-sensei!"

Naruto shoves the door ajar, Shikamaru disgruntledly dragged along behind him; his efforts to halt the overexcited jinchūriki from barging into the Hokage office have proved entirely futile.

"My apologies, I tried to stop this idiot."

Kakashi lazily glances up from his position leaning against the edge of Tsunade's desk, unsurprised by the intrusion; the Godaime herself only shakes her head in exasperation before addressing him.

"What is it this time, Naruto? If it's about Ichiraku again-"

Naruto, singular in his purpose, completely ignores her.

"Kakashi-sensei! I've got an idea!"

The jōnin in question shoots a glance at Tsunade. She sighs, rubbing a palm against her face, and then nods.

"Whatever. Kakashi, you handle this. I'm too tired for his nonsense."

As she rises and exits, Naruto finally breaks free of his captor's determined grasp; Shikamaru stumbles ungracefully but manages to recover before hitting the floor.

"Sorry Kakashi-"

Kakashi simply raises a hand to Shikamaru's attempted explanation.

"It's fine, Shikamaru. You can go. I think I can handle this myself."

With an exasperated nod, Shikamaru ambles out.

Kakashi sighs and seats himself at Tsunade's vacated desk before finally turning his attention to his rambunctious former student.

"What's going on, Naruto?"

At this point the jinchūriki is so excited that the words practically spill from his mouth.

"Kakashi-sensei! I want you to bell test us again!"

Though Kakashi's face is almost entirely obscured, his bewilderment is evident.

"What? The bell test?"

"Yeah! Just like when we were genin!"

Naruto's former sensei remains surprised, but hears him out.

"What brought this up?"

Now Naruto is the one caught off guard, and his exuberance wanes as he runs a sheepish hand through his hair.

"Well, uh, I guess, since you're gonna be Hokage and all…and Sasuke's supposed to leave soon…and Sakura's working…and we never actually completed the test the first time, so I just thought…"

He trails off imploringly.

Kakashi leans back against the Hokage chair, glancing at the ceiling as if for some sort of council. Naruto watches him, and bubbles of anxiety begin to form in his stomach.

"Uh, I mean-"

"I'll do it."

Kakashi's gaze has returned to Naruto, and the jinchūriki is surprised by the glimmer of anticipation present there.

"I'll test you, but you'll be responsible for rounding up Sasuke and Sakura, and we'll meet at noon in training ground 9, no later."

His words are cut abruptly short as Naruto practically hurtles the desk to embrace him, enthusiasm rekindled.

"Thanks, Kakashi-sensei!"

"No problem," is the muffled reply.


	3. Chapter 3

"Where's he at? Where-"

Naruto's repeated chattering is cut short by a fist to his stomach, draining him of air.

As Sakura withdraws her arm and repositions her glove, Sasuke lets out a huff of amusement.

Naruto pulls a face as he massages his affected torso.

"What the hell, Sakura?"

The kunoichi fixes him with her glare.

"You know how Kakashi-sensei is. He's definitely not gonna turn up on time, so pipe down."

Naruto returns a scowl, but remains silent as he collapses heavily against the tree that Sasuke's seated himself under. He momentarily lolls against the Uchiha's shoulder, only to be shrugged off in annoyance.

"Man, what's your problem?

Sasuke offers an exasperated snort.

"This is ridiculous."

Naruto's face screws up with offense.

"Ridiculous? Yeah, right. We'll see how ridiculous it is when I've got a bell and you don't."

The Uchiha rolls his eyes at his friend, but rises and dusts off his cloak anyway as Naruto looks on in triumph.

"See? That's what I thought."

Sasuke's gaze, however, is fixed beyond him.

"No, you dobe, Kakashi's here."

Naruto pops up from his spot under the tree, all indignation forgotten and instead replaced with enthusiasm.

"Kakashi-sensei!"

The jōnin waves slowly as he approaches. He appears exactly as he always has, clad in military-standard uniform, a matching mask, and a lazy expression; it's almost ridiculous to think that he'll be donning the prestigious Hokage robes in a few days.

"Sorry I'm late, I-"

Sakura cuts him off with an exasperated sound, but Naruto knows it's in good nature.

"Come on, Kakashi-sensei, we're not genin anymore."

Kakashi's eyebrows raise, and there is a long pause before he responds.

"Well, I guess we won't be needing these after all."

Holding two small bells out in front of him, Kakashi incinerates them in his palm.

Naruto's eyes nearly bulge out of his head, and even Sasuke inhales sharply.

"Kakashi-sensei! What-"

The jōnin raises a hand to silence them.

"Like Sakura said, you three aren't students anymore. The original bell test is meant only as a genin exercise."

Naruto sags where he stands.

"So you won't…"

"I have something a bit different in mind for shinobi of your caliber."

Sakura's brows knit, and her tone is suspicious as she cuts in.

"What do you mean by that, Kakashi-sensei? We came here to take the bell test."

Kakashi dips his head in assent.

"The concept is generally the same. The stakes, however, are a bit higher."

Now even Sasuke is clearly interested.

"…Higher stakes?"

Kakashi turns his gaze to the Uchiha.

"That's right. This time I'm going to try to take something from you."

Blank stares are Kakashi's only garnered response.

"Your clan symbols."

Instinctively, Sasuke recoils, his hand flying to the crest embroided on his cloak as Sakura protests.

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei, the concept of the exercise is that we're supposed to prove ourselves by taking something from a more experienced shinobi. We should still be able to take something from you, as well."

As usual, her logic is solid, and Naruto nods along.

"Yeah! It'll be more exciting if both sides have something to lose."

Kakashi regards them both with new interest.

"From me? Well, what would you take?"

Naruto is immediately full of ideas.

"Your headband! No, your kunai pouch! Or-"

"Your mask."

The jinchūriki whips around to stare at Sasuke with incredulity. The Uchiha's hand is still on his crest, but the look on his face has gone from a wince to downright conniving.

Kakashi, astonishingly, doesn't seem surprised; he simply leans back on his heels in consideration.

"Deal."

And with that, the jōnin disappears in a crackle of sparks.


	4. Chapter 4

"Huh! You call me the dobe and then go pulling crap like that!"

Naruto's tone is more incredulous than anything, but Sasuke's returned gaze is piercing.

"Don't act like you don't want to know what's under that mask."

He can't really argue with that logic, but the concept of Sasuke's reasoning being so juvenile merely serves to astound Naruto further.

"Don't tell me you-"

"Have you picked up any chakra points yet?"

Sasuke's looking at Sakura now, ignoring Naruto's attempted jab.

The kunoichi has seated herself cross-legged on the ground, eyes closed and hands clasped in concentration. She'd typically never enter such a vulnerable state in this open of an area, but when Sakura has the last Uchiha and the nine-tail's jinchūriki as her companions in arms, she figures she's got nothing to worry about.

"It's a little odd, but I think so. About a mile out, south-southwest."

Sasuke dips his head in assent, confident in her prowess, as Naruto grins lopsidedly and clasps his hands to begin channeling his own immense chakra.

Suddenly the jinchūriki bursts into orange flame, radiating a wave of pure energy that temporarily flattens the surrounding foliage. Sasuke pulls a face at these antics.

"What was that for, dobe? Generating that much chakra all at once just ensures he knows where we are."

Naruto shrugs off Sasuke's disdain, causing the flame around him to undulate.

"I bet he could already tell where my nine-tails chakra was before. Besides, I wanna beat Kakashi-sensei fair and square!"

As if to punctuate the point, Naruto pumps his fist in the air, launching a ball of wind chakra up fifty feet high.

Sasuke just shakes his head at this show of exuberance as he offers Sakura a hand up. Even if Naruto is the savior of the shinobi world, some things just never change.

Observing her teammate as well, Sakura dusts herself off and produces a favorite kunai from her holster.

"Alright. Let's get going."

It takes a quarter of an hour of searching before the trio arrive at the epicenter of Sakura's chakra detection. The location is a clearing amongst the trees, small and unsettlingly quiet.

Immediately, Sasuke activates his Sharingan, peering intently about the surrounding area. Naruto, too, is on high alert, nine-tails-enhanced senses analyzing the clearing for any signs of Kakashi.

"Not north, or east…or south or west…"

"Or below," Sasuke adds with an air of haste as Sakura positions her glove for a chakra-enhanced punch to the ground beneath them.

The kunoichi relents, a bit crestfallen, before suddenly launching herself off the forest floor with a powerful jump, eyes fixed on something above the Uchiha's head as she knocks him out of the way.

"Above!"

Naruto whips around just in time to see Kakashi drop from the sky like some bizarre bird of prey, kunai flashing as it rips at material; were it not for Sakura's intervention, he would've sliced right through the back of Sasuke's cloak.

"Chidori!"

Suddenly Kakashi's free hand is filled with electricity, and Naruto is just quick enough to aim a blast of wind at him to escape injury himself.

The gust catches Kakashi in the side of the ribs, lauching him horizontally into a tree; rather than hit with a solid thunk, however, his form merely bursts out of existence.

Naruto tosses his head and growls, orange chakra pulsing.

"A clone! Kakashi-sensei is still the same old tricky bastard."

Sakura, too, is riled.

"Dammit. I knew it was too easy to locate him. He planted a chakra clone here to confuse us."

Sasuke, however, regards the situation with a wry smile, lowering his blade.

"This might turn out to be interesting after all."


	5. Chapter 5

"Did you hear that?"

"Hear what? I think you're just scared, Sasuke, now that your crest has a scratch in it."

"Shut up."

Naruto snorts amusedly to himself as his pushes off of the tree limbs whizzing by beneath him. The three have resolved to return to the starting point, determined to rethink their approach after the close encounter with the chakra clone.

"Listen. There it is."

This time Naruto complies, but detects nothing.

"I'm telling you, it's just because your-"

Naruto is abruptly silenced as something small and dense slams into his back, propelling him into a tree with a harsh thud.

"I've got you now!"

Absurdly, Naruto's brain recognizes the gruff voice of the being crushing him into the trunk, and he manages to cough out an inquiry into the bark.

"…Pakkun?"

His only answer is the painful sound of ripping fabric, and he feels the back of his jacket tear away from his body. Immediately he realizes what the ninken is after, and writhes in panic even as his teammates alight beside him; Sakura lands on an adjacent branch and begins to wrestle Pakkun off.

"No! I can't lose to Kakashi-sensei!"

With a grunt of effort, Sakura finally rips the dog from Naruto, but the damage is done; Pakkun squirms victoriously from her grasp, the frayed Uzumaki crest clenched in his teeth, still smoking with chakra.

"See you kids around!"

The ninken disappears into the trees, neatly avoiding being clipped by a furious swing of Sasuke's katana.

"Dammit!"

Angrily, Naruto slams his palm into the tree he'd been trapped against, sending bark spraying out in all directions.

Sasuke regards him with a degree of sympathy as he sheathes his sword.

"We haven't lost yet. Come on."

Chakra intensifying tenfold, Naruto straightens up and leads the charge back towards the training ground.


	6. Chapter 6

Finally, the trees begin to thin around them, and the three find themselves on the southern outskirts of the training ground. Sakura tests the ground in front of her with a cautious foot, and Sasuke watches her with some reserve.

"What is it?"

She frowns, continuing to prod the earth.

"I'm not sure. Something doesn't feel right."

Naruto is made uneasy by this statement, and pulls his orange chakra in closer to his body.

"Man, who knows what tricks Kakashi-sensei's decided to pull this time…"

As Sakura ventures out further into the field, Sasuke's left eye flashes red with the Sharingan, scanning the ground before them.

Suddenly, both eyes widen, and he yells -

"Sakura! Watch out!"

The kunoichi turns to look at him, confusion apparent, and then is abruptly dragged to the ground.

Naruto stares, his mind spinning in an attempt to comprehend what has just happened.

Chakra rods pin Sakura to the ground, having burst up through the earth to immobilize her extremities. She struggles furiously, but the effort is futile; the rods are too strong and too many. Sasuke moves as if to help her, but is forced to jump back as more of the trap is activated, ominous black poles jutting up from the ground.

"Dammit, Sakura-"

She shuts him up with a snarl.

"Don't bother, shannaro! You'll get caught too."

Naruto, however, is undeterred.

"We're not gonna leave you!"

"Oh yes you are. Move your asses. Kakashi-sensei is out there somewhere."

Both men open their mouths to protest further, but are instead jolted into action when Sakura screeches-

"MOVE!"

A vicious crackle erupts behind the two, and they can barely dive out of the way as a burst of white chakra rips through where they'd stood moments before.

"Ryouken!"

From his landing place in the dirt, Naruto sees the flash of a figure melt from the trees behind them, electricity still crackling from its form.

"Sasuke-"

Any attempt to warn his friend is drowned out as white fills his vision, obscuring Sasuke from view, and Naruto chokes on his words as the dense air settles in his lungs.

The abrupt scream of metal clashing on metal rips through Naruto's ears, and instantly he is on his feet, searching blindly in the fog.

"Sasuke!"

He hears grunts of exertion off to his left, followed by the shredding of fibers as some material is torn off.

"Sas-"

Naruto's words are cut off as the Uchiha's body slams into his, knocking him back down to the turf.

Sasuke rolls off of him with great effort, landing face-first in the dust as the fog begins to clear. Naruto sits up, staring.

"Man, what happened to you?"

Sasuke's breathing is labored, but he still attempts to give Naruto a sharp look.

"Kakashi…He blocked my dojutsu with that Kirigakure mist."

Naruto's gaze fixes on Sasuke's back. The cloak has been entirely shredded around where the Uchiha crest had once been, leaving a gaping hole in its place; the edges are frayed as if sliced haphazardly.

"Sasuke, your crest…"

Naruto trails off as he realizes the other shinobi has passed out cold.

Abandoning Sasuke's limp form, Naruto attempts to regain his bearings. The surrounding area seems to have completely changed; Sakura is nowhere in sight.

He rubs his forehead in exasperation.

"Damn."

Figuring that staying in one place is only increasing his vulnerability, Naruto wanders off towards what he assumes is the starting point, hyper-aware of how very alone he is.


	7. Chapter 7

Naruto's barely gone a few yards before he begins to feel a prickle of unease. Peering around, he can't see anything out of the ordinary, but he increases his chakra output anyway, the trailing flames licking the ground behind him.

He's almost put the restlessness out of his mind when a hand explodes from the ground, pulling him down into the earth.

Thankfully, Naruto's reflexes are quick enough to evade complete submersion into the ground, and he manages to launch a blast of wind chakra at the hand when he's only been dragged down to his calves.

The hand retracts into the terrain, and briefly, absurdly Naruto thinks he's safe, until the dirt explodes in front of him.

As the dust settles, Naruto's eyes focus upon the form of Kakashi, who gazes at him calmly.

"You bastard, you're playing dirty! You used a trap on Sakura, and a cheap trick on Sasuke!"

His sensei merely gazes at him, unconcerned.

"You know the drill, Naruto. Intent to kill is all that matters, regardless of the method."

Naruto grinds his teeth in frustration, straining against his earthen footholds. Kakashi observes this with some amusement, only serving to agitate him further.

"I guess I don't need to bother with you, though. I've already got this."

As Kakashi turns to amble away, he produces a familiar square of orange material, the frayed Uzumaki crest flashing as he waves it.

Now Naruto is furious. Hand signs a blur, a clone explodes into life beside him as Naruto generates a Rasengan, blasting his feet free from the ground.

With a roar, the two Narutos leap at Kakashi.

The jōnin betrays no realization of the attack until they are nearly upon him, at which point he expertly dispatches the clone with a behind-the back toss of a kunai. Naruto, however, lands in front of him unscathed.

"I'm not giving up just yet, Kakashi-sensei!"

"I didn't expect that you would."

And with that, Kakashi finally attacks, charging at Naruto with lightning chakra already forming in his palm.

"Shiden!"

Naruto's eyes go wide as a purple bolt of electricity explodes from his sensei; he's never seen the jutsu before in his life and is too slow to avoid it, the bolt grazing his thigh as he dives to avoid it.

With a cry, Naruto launches a Rasengan in Kakashi's direction, and scores a lucky hit on his shoulder as Kakashi struggles to reclaim the purple electricity into his palm. His sensei rolls into the impact, landing skillfully several yards back as the earth buckles behind his heels, but still Naruto can see that the hit has affected him.

Taking advantage of the opportunity, the jinchūriki gathers Rasenshuriken in each palm, and the ferocious disks slam into Kakashi's chest, sending him skidding back into the earth; the jōnin lays motionless.

"Yeah!"

Dashing forward, Naruto lets out a triumphant cry as he goes to claim his prize.

Just as his fingers are about to graze his sensei's mask, a fist collides with his skull, crumpling him to the ground.

Naruto barely catches a disoriented glimpse of the floored Kakashi dissolving into sparks before he is tossed into something solid, his spine smacking the surface painfully; the crunch of bark upon impact reveals his landing place as yet another tree.

"I have to say, Naruto, you're definitely tricky."

A masked face pops out of the leaves above him, upside-down, and this time Naruto is sure this is the real Kakashi.

His sensei stretches out an arm and rapidly taps Naruto's joints, beginning at his shoulders and working down to his knees. Confused, Naruto attempts to shake Kakashi off, but finds that he can't; with a prickle of horror, he realizes that his sensei has closed all major chakra points in his body.

"Damn you, you-"

"Oh, that's right, the most important one."

Cheerfully, Kakashi jabs a finger at Naruto's mouth, sealing the chakra point.


	8. Chapter 8

Naruto leans against his tree-turned prison, fuming.

Now that he's been immobilized as well, the game is effectively up; frustration clouds his mind as he imagines Kakashi victoriously cutting the Haruno symbol off the back of an helpless Sakura.

Thus, he is entirely unprepared for the scream.

"SHANNARO!"

With a deafening boom, the trees nearby are toppled as the very earth beneath them is cracked.

A white-haired figure flies, ragdoll-style, across Naruto's field of vision, plummeting into the earth and rending a deep crater in its wake.

Sakura?

As if on cue, the kunoichi emerges from the foliage, Yin seal unfurled and the unconscious Sasuke thrown over her shoulder like a child.

Sakura is covered from head to toe is grime and blood, but the ferocity in her gaze is crystal clear. As she moves forward, Naruto can also see with some amazement that the Haruno image is still intact upon her back.

Naruto attempts to alert her to his presence by falling over noisily, the best he can do in his current state; however, when her laser vision fixes on him, a small part of him wishes he hadn't made himself known.

Trudging over, she lifts him up easily with one hand and tucks him under her arm.

"Come on. We're going to win."

Naruto can't find it in himself to doubt her words.

He is jostled uncomfortably as she treads to the edge of Kakashi's crater, Sasuke's katana hilt banging repeatedly against him, but when he catches sight of his immobile sensei, he suddenly doesn't care.

They're going to win.

Sakura deposits him and Sasuke roughly and disappears over the rim of the crater with a forceful leap, returning moments later with the similarly incapacitated Kakashi.

"Alright. Let's get you idiots fixed up."

Moving stiffly, she passes green medical chakra over Naruto's body, reviving his limbs. He sighs thankfully, feebly rising to a sitting position.

"Thanks."

She grunts in acknowledgement, pulling Sasuke towards her as she begins to work on him.

After a few strong pulses of green chakra to his chest, the Uchiha awakes, coughing in disorientation. He briefly looks around in confusion, attempting to assess the situation, but freezes when his eyes find Kakashi.

Sasuke looks rapidly from the jōnin to Sakura, who places a hand against his cheek to calm his agitation.

"Sakura…?"

"It's over. I knocked him out."

Naruto is nearly blinded by the stare of admiration Sasuke offers her, and looks away, feeling oddly out of place.

Only when Sakura moves to Kakashi does he feel safe in looking back in their direction, and his interest spikes as he realizes she's reaching for the mask.

Briefly, Naruto's stomach flips with an absurd burst of anxiety, but then Sakura rips the fabric away and his nerves freeze.


	9. Chapter 9

The fair face carries a bloody scratch, undoubtedly inflicted by the kunoichi leaning over it. Otherwise, the jōnin's features are unmarred, and his three students analyze them hungrily, attempting to satiate years of curiosity in mere seconds.

Kakashi's jaw is narrow but strong, crowned by full lips half-parted in unconsciousness. The nose is narrow but moderate in length, perfectly straight, and the eyes, already well-known, are somehow enhanced by it. Many elements, despite always being visible, rise to attention now; Naruto's never noticed the thickness of his sensei's lashes, nor the arch of his brows.

Unexpectedly, but not without warrant, the one word that rises to encompass Kakashi's face is beautiful.

"Damn."

Naruto can't hide the approval in his voice, but instead of mocking, his teammates merely wear expressions of likeminded wonder.

After a lengthy pause, Sakura raises a hand to Kakashi's head, and momentarily obscures the striking face as she pumps consciousness back into him.

Kakashi's eyes open slowly, revealing the calm grey Naruto knows so well, and immediately raises a hand to his bare face.

Oddly, he doesn't react with shock, or even anger, but almost relief.

Sluggishly, he props himself up to face them.

"Well, looks like the old Team 7 finally got the best of their sensei."

There it is, that irrepressible wit, and as his teammates join him in soft laughter, Naruto feels a flicker of solidarity settle in his chest.

Mission complete.


End file.
